E2T Video: PG&E CEO Paints the Future of Utilities

The CEO of California utility PG&E, Peter Darbee, recently caught our attention in a big way when he said that he’d like to use PG&E’s deep pockets to buy and own solar thermal plants. Turns out that’s just the beginning of the things he’d like to change about how utilities operate.

Check out our video clip of a round table discussion with the man who was once named by Vanity Fair as a Golden State Eco-warrior. Darbee weighs in on electricity pricing, regulations, smart meters, and working with Google on plug-in hybrids.

I work at Amazon.com on the Amazon Green project. The reason why Iâ€™m replying to this posting is because Iâ€™d also like to raise the issue of the demand side of energy consumption.

I think that there is a huge amount that can be done to address energy needs by modifying consumer behavior. Many big organizations are trying to tap into this (e.g. EPAâ€™s Change A Light Bulb to a CFL Pledge). A challenge that we are trying to address as a mass retailer is that of consumer confusion about what products offer legitimate advantages in terms of energy consumption, water consumption, etc.

To that end, weâ€™re trying to assemble a community-driven list of the most environmentally-friendly products available, to help consumers evaluate â€œgreenâ€ product options.

Defining what is â€œgreenâ€ is something that weâ€™re trying to get help with from those in the community who are passionate and informed about these issues. If anyone would like to add their insights into what is green or not, Iâ€™d certainly invite you to add your input to our â€œGreen 3â€ list at http://www.amazon.com/green.